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Bitten by the Blues: The Alligator Records Story
It started with the searing sound of a slide careening up the neck of an electric guitar. In 1970, twenty-three-year-old Bruce Iglauer walked into Florence’s Lounge, in the heart of Chicago’s South Side, and was overwhelmed by the joyous, raw Chicago blues of Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers. A year later, Iglauer produced Hound Dog’s debut album in eight hours and pressed a thousand copies, the most he could afford. From that one album grew Alligator Records, the largest independent blues record label in the world.
Bitten by the Blues is Iglauer’s memoir of a life immersed in the blues—and the business of the blues. No one person was present at the creation of more great contemporary blues music than Iglauer: he produced albums by Koko Taylor, Albert Collins, Professor Longhair, Johnny Winter, Lonnie Mack, Son Seals, Roy Buchanan, Shemekia Copeland, and many other major figures. In this book, Iglauer takes us behind the scenes, offering unforgettable stories of those charismatic musicians and classic sessions, delivering an intimate and unvarnished look at what it’s like to work with the greats of the blues. It’s a vivid portrait of some of the extraordinary musicians and larger-than-life personalities who brought America’s music to life in the clubs of Chicago’s South and West Sides. Bitten by the Blues is also an expansive history of half a century of blues in Chicago and around the world, tracing the blues recording business through massive transitions, as a genre of music originally created by and for black southerners adapted to an influx of white fans and musicians and found a worldwide audience.
Most of the smoky bars and packed clubs that fostered the Chicago blues scene have long since disappeared. But their soul lives on, and so does their sound. As real and audacious as the music that shaped it, Bitten by the Blues is a raucous journey through the world of Genuine Houserockin’ Music.
Bitten by the Blues is Iglauer’s memoir of a life immersed in the blues—and the business of the blues. No one person was present at the creation of more great contemporary blues music than Iglauer: he produced albums by Koko Taylor, Albert Collins, Professor Longhair, Johnny Winter, Lonnie Mack, Son Seals, Roy Buchanan, Shemekia Copeland, and many other major figures. In this book, Iglauer takes us behind the scenes, offering unforgettable stories of those charismatic musicians and classic sessions, delivering an intimate and unvarnished look at what it’s like to work with the greats of the blues. It’s a vivid portrait of some of the extraordinary musicians and larger-than-life personalities who brought America’s music to life in the clubs of Chicago’s South and West Sides. Bitten by the Blues is also an expansive history of half a century of blues in Chicago and around the world, tracing the blues recording business through massive transitions, as a genre of music originally created by and for black southerners adapted to an influx of white fans and musicians and found a worldwide audience.
Most of the smoky bars and packed clubs that fostered the Chicago blues scene have long since disappeared. But their soul lives on, and so does their sound. As real and audacious as the music that shaped it, Bitten by the Blues is a raucous journey through the world of Genuine Houserockin’ Music.
352 pages, Hardcover
Published October 30, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 2, 2019
Informative story of the rise and success of Alligator records. Alligator is the premier blues label around today, but it's been a constant struggle to adapt to the changes in the music industry over the last 40 years. Bruce Iglauer, founder, has been a champion for blues in Chicago and elsewhere and been instrumental in shaping the successful careers of many artists. He does have an axe to grind with the music industry on many issues, but he keeps it to a minimum here and focuses on the artists most of the time. I liked the book and found the stories of the artists very engaging. I was fortunate enough to be in Chicago this weekend and saw one of his recently signed artists (the Cash Box Kings) at Legends and they were awesome. Thanks to Bruce for helping to keep the blues alive!
November 29, 2018
"Bitten by the Blues" is one of those books that will most likely only appeal to readers, like me, who have a special affinity with the blues music genre.
This is the story of Chicago's Alligator Records and its founder, Bruce Iglauer. The record label was launched on a wing and a prayer almost fifty years ago and has done far more than any other company to chart the every changing music styles which began in the 1920's in the rural southern states of the USA.
From the get-go as a wide-eyed enthusiast who moved to the Windy City as a young man Bruce Iglauer's passion and savvy approach to the business, against the odds, has charted the very history of the music. The story begins with Iglauer becoming beguiled by the raw approach to Chicago blues as delivered by Hound Dog Taylor at Florence's Lounge, in the midst of the rough and ready Southside of Chicago.
Somehow Bruce Iglauer scraped together the cash to record Taylor's three piece group and to release the first Alligator LP. From that modest beginning Bruce Iglauer's devotion to the cause saw a stream of albums grow the company's profile and sales from Chicago to the world. Son Seals, Koko Taylor, Albert Collins and other Chicago blues locals set the scene for the next phase which was to head out of the Windy City to discover and record blues based artists from around the USA.
Today Bruce Iglauer needs no introduction to blues enthusiasts anywhere in the world. Not bad for a guy who just wanted to share his affinity with the music as far and as wide as he could. And did. Now the names on the record labels are a new breed of blues visionaries like Selwyn Birchfield, Marcia Ball, Shemekia Copeland, Lindsay Beaver and Toronzo Cannon. Unbelievably Alligator has recorded over 250 albums since that first release by Hound Dog Taylor in 1971. The story of Bruce Iglauer and Alligator Records is compulsory reading for blues enthusiasts.
This is the story of Chicago's Alligator Records and its founder, Bruce Iglauer. The record label was launched on a wing and a prayer almost fifty years ago and has done far more than any other company to chart the every changing music styles which began in the 1920's in the rural southern states of the USA.
From the get-go as a wide-eyed enthusiast who moved to the Windy City as a young man Bruce Iglauer's passion and savvy approach to the business, against the odds, has charted the very history of the music. The story begins with Iglauer becoming beguiled by the raw approach to Chicago blues as delivered by Hound Dog Taylor at Florence's Lounge, in the midst of the rough and ready Southside of Chicago.
Somehow Bruce Iglauer scraped together the cash to record Taylor's three piece group and to release the first Alligator LP. From that modest beginning Bruce Iglauer's devotion to the cause saw a stream of albums grow the company's profile and sales from Chicago to the world. Son Seals, Koko Taylor, Albert Collins and other Chicago blues locals set the scene for the next phase which was to head out of the Windy City to discover and record blues based artists from around the USA.
Today Bruce Iglauer needs no introduction to blues enthusiasts anywhere in the world. Not bad for a guy who just wanted to share his affinity with the music as far and as wide as he could. And did. Now the names on the record labels are a new breed of blues visionaries like Selwyn Birchfield, Marcia Ball, Shemekia Copeland, Lindsay Beaver and Toronzo Cannon. Unbelievably Alligator has recorded over 250 albums since that first release by Hound Dog Taylor in 1971. The story of Bruce Iglauer and Alligator Records is compulsory reading for blues enthusiasts.
January 23, 2019
Chicago enjoys more blues clubs than any other city, writes Bruce Iglauer, explaining how his label released three hundred albums favoring urban electric blues.
Iglauer’s dream of Alligator Records formed almost fifty years ago at Florence’s Lounge, the one Chicago club that most resembled a Mississippi juke joint.
Bruce Iglauer was a white interloper at the club. Today, he writes, the black blues audience embraces a lightweight hybrid.
This personal memoir recalls and relives Iglauer’s fifty years of recording and releasing the blues, inspired by what he heard at Florence’s. Iglauer acknowledges the early blues recordings a hundred years ago at Paramount, based in Grafton, a few miles north of Milwaukee.
I enjoyed reading some of Iglauer’s anecdotes and observations, but most of the rough-and-tumble stories and musicians did not appeal to me.
Most white folks met the blues as a form of rock ’n’ roll. But the restrained response of the white kids contrasted with that of the exuberant black blues fans, Iglauer writes. For the new generation, flashy guitar solos dominated while lyrics and vocals played a smaller role than in the first generation of blues.
Iglauer laments that most blues players today cram too many noted into their solos. “The great blues guitarists know how to take their time,” writes Iglauer. Hallelujah!
About this time, in San Francisco fifty years ago, an FM disc jockey started playing album tracks, not just the hit singles. The new free form spread quickly. Blues rock bands — Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the first Led Zeppelin and many others — introduced the genre to our generation through long extended tracks. (I worked as an underground FM deejay in St Louis in the early seventies, playing and enjoying these tracks, pivotal at the time, but many of them do not survive the test of time.)
By the mid-eighties, Alligator’s profile grew thanks in part to three white guys who rocked the blues: Johnny Winter, Roy Buchanan and Lonnie Mack. Stevie Ray Vaughan, meanwhile, evolved as the first white blues rocker to make an impact on black blues musicians, writes Iglauer.
Marcia Ball, a roadhouse blues and boogie-woogie piano player, became one of Alligator’s most popular and best-selling artists. As a six-foot redhead she sits cross-legged at the piano, always swinging her free leg. I’ve seen her three times. Always a good time.
In the nineties, the record business became a dog-eat-dog business, writes Iglauer. Mom-and-pop stores closed. The trend marked a victory for people who described music, albums and CDs as “product,” demeaning it to a commodity.
Alligator began to lose sales twenty years ago. At that time, the public could rip a CD at home then share it. Suddenly anyone could download music for free, disrupting the business model of the music and recording business.
Twenty years after she noticed Bruce iglauer in Milwaukee at a Hound Dog Taylor gig, Jo Kalando married him.
Books published by university presses usually set a high standard. But several recent ones, including this, allow a very strong first-person voice with little apparent fact-checking or few other sources. Three and a half stars, rounded to four.
Iglauer’s dream of Alligator Records formed almost fifty years ago at Florence’s Lounge, the one Chicago club that most resembled a Mississippi juke joint.
Bruce Iglauer was a white interloper at the club. Today, he writes, the black blues audience embraces a lightweight hybrid.
This personal memoir recalls and relives Iglauer’s fifty years of recording and releasing the blues, inspired by what he heard at Florence’s. Iglauer acknowledges the early blues recordings a hundred years ago at Paramount, based in Grafton, a few miles north of Milwaukee.
I enjoyed reading some of Iglauer’s anecdotes and observations, but most of the rough-and-tumble stories and musicians did not appeal to me.
Most white folks met the blues as a form of rock ’n’ roll. But the restrained response of the white kids contrasted with that of the exuberant black blues fans, Iglauer writes. For the new generation, flashy guitar solos dominated while lyrics and vocals played a smaller role than in the first generation of blues.
Iglauer laments that most blues players today cram too many noted into their solos. “The great blues guitarists know how to take their time,” writes Iglauer. Hallelujah!
About this time, in San Francisco fifty years ago, an FM disc jockey started playing album tracks, not just the hit singles. The new free form spread quickly. Blues rock bands — Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the first Led Zeppelin and many others — introduced the genre to our generation through long extended tracks. (I worked as an underground FM deejay in St Louis in the early seventies, playing and enjoying these tracks, pivotal at the time, but many of them do not survive the test of time.)
By the mid-eighties, Alligator’s profile grew thanks in part to three white guys who rocked the blues: Johnny Winter, Roy Buchanan and Lonnie Mack. Stevie Ray Vaughan, meanwhile, evolved as the first white blues rocker to make an impact on black blues musicians, writes Iglauer.
Marcia Ball, a roadhouse blues and boogie-woogie piano player, became one of Alligator’s most popular and best-selling artists. As a six-foot redhead she sits cross-legged at the piano, always swinging her free leg. I’ve seen her three times. Always a good time.
In the nineties, the record business became a dog-eat-dog business, writes Iglauer. Mom-and-pop stores closed. The trend marked a victory for people who described music, albums and CDs as “product,” demeaning it to a commodity.
Alligator began to lose sales twenty years ago. At that time, the public could rip a CD at home then share it. Suddenly anyone could download music for free, disrupting the business model of the music and recording business.
Twenty years after she noticed Bruce iglauer in Milwaukee at a Hound Dog Taylor gig, Jo Kalando married him.
Books published by university presses usually set a high standard. But several recent ones, including this, allow a very strong first-person voice with little apparent fact-checking or few other sources. Three and a half stars, rounded to four.
March 25, 2020
Loved this history of Alligator Records from Chicago. I gave this a 4-1/2 stars in my Reading Log. It is a very honest, transparent look by Bruce Iglauer into the start-up of Alligator Records, as well as its successes and failures. Bruce should know--as he started Alligator Records out of his tiny Chicago apartment back in 1971. It all started with Hound Dog Taylor, who had impressed Iglauer in one of the many southside blues clubs in Chicago. Lots of insights into what makes a label tick, about artist contracts & issues, about royalties and other overhead costs, and about distribution/sales & returns. Alligator has stood the test of time--love this label and have bought many of its CDs. They continue on with digital music now and are going as strong as ever. Keep up the great work, Alligator, of bringing us great artists with their best musical offerings!
June 7, 2019
50-2019. Halfway to my 2019 reading goal. This was an engaging memoir of the founding and life of the blues label Alligator Records. I am proud to own many of their recordings, with the great Christmas Blues albums “Genuine Houserockin’ Christmas” and “The Alligator Records Christmas Collection” prime among them. Hearing the late KoKo Taylor belt out “Merry Merry Christmas” each holiday season never fails to bring me joy. Alligator seems to be the rare instance where artists are treated fairly, and the music actually matters. This was fun to ride along with them as they grew from one employee to dozens, and now back to less than 20 employees.
Read
January 19, 2025Fascinating read, full of stories about the Chicago blues scene and the characters who populated it in the 70s. Iglauer also gives us a insider's perspective on the evolution of recording media from the days of when labels put records out primarily on vinyl to today's world where streaming services are the most widely-used recorded music delivery system. Any blues fan will enjoy this story of Alligator Records as told by its founder.
November 3, 2025
The inside story of the birth and growth of one of the world’s best and most enduring small record labels. The blues genre aside, if you like underdogs and hard scrabble tales of folks overcoming adversity, you’ll dig Bruce Iglauer’s refreshingly honest memoir. Add the characters and the struggle to keep their art form relevant in a society that moves too fast for its own good, and these pages manage to turn themselves.
July 2, 2019
Meh. Very surprised at how boring this book was...disappointing.
May 27, 2024
Interesting history of how this man fell into being a record producer of blues artists in Chicago. I especially enjoyed reading the book after I heard his presentation in Woodstock
February 12, 2025
Professor Longhair’s album Crawfish Fiesta is my favorite record on Aligator Records. Great read.
March 27, 2024
This is a wonderful book about a fantastic little record label, Alligator Records. Bruce Iglauer explains how, as a young man in his early 20s, he fell in love with blues music while discovering blues artists, mostly unknown to white audiences, playing their guts out in Chicago clubs. He had the very good fortune, and also the wisdom, to find and record Hound Dog Taylor and his little band for the first Alligator release. (I have that one, along with virtually everything else Hound Dog and his guitarist Brewer Phillips recorded. I enjoy many other Alligator artists as well!)
What makes this book especially enjoyable is that Iglauer tells us not only about the marvelous men and women he recorded along the way, but also discusses the practical problems involved in getting a new record label off the ground - the distribution problems, the publishing rights, the royalties - better than I've ever seen it set forth in a book about the music industry. Iglauer was figuring it out as he went along, and he shares that process.
He's a good writer: the book is balanced and entertaining but never pompous or self-congratulatory. At the end, Iglauer worries if his little label can survive streaming. I sure hope so.
What makes this book especially enjoyable is that Iglauer tells us not only about the marvelous men and women he recorded along the way, but also discusses the practical problems involved in getting a new record label off the ground - the distribution problems, the publishing rights, the royalties - better than I've ever seen it set forth in a book about the music industry. Iglauer was figuring it out as he went along, and he shares that process.
He's a good writer: the book is balanced and entertaining but never pompous or self-congratulatory. At the end, Iglauer worries if his little label can survive streaming. I sure hope so.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews